Since the other thread debating the pro and cons of raw vs. kibble is now 11 pages, I thought I'd start a new thread about feeding both together as a good dog diet. By together, I mean as a diet, not in the same meal. Kibble and raw digest at different rates so you don't want to feed them in the same meal, it's best to have 6 to 8 hours in-between.

I have been feeding raw in the mornings and kibble at night for about a year and a half now. My dog has never looked better. She is 4 1/2 yrs old now, and while she looked fine on the various commercial dog foods she's eaten over the years I've had her, she has some notable improvements with the addition of raw meaty bones to her diet.

When I started feeding her half raw, after about 2 or 3 weeks, her ears stopped itching, she had no more eye boogers, her breath was better, her teeth are clean and white, and her coat was even softer and shinier. That was enough of a difference for me to continue to feed her half raw and half kibble. I'm not sure why I did not go to full raw but I figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I vary her meats, she gets chicken, turkey, lamb necks, veal necks, beef when I can find it cheap, and venison that my husband shoots each year. I don't spend a ton of time weighing and deciding what to feed, I just pull something out of the freezer or see what's on sale at the store that week.

It's a diet that has worked very well for me and for my dog. I'm not sure how many others feed this way and I have no problem with those who feed raw and those who feed kibble, every situation is different and so is every dog and what works for one may not work for another!

Last edited by turtle on May 23rd, 2006, 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

One of my old professors who has fed raw to her dogs for the past 10 years has her current GSD on a 1/2 raw 1/2 kibble because he just couldn't keep the weight on with the raw. He would eat until he was full, but wouldn't gain a pound. So by feeding the kibble for one meal she's finally been able to put some weight on him and he looks great!

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France

Oh, and I thought I would quote BabyReba's excellent post from the Raw Vs Kibble thread since it's kind of gotten buried and lost now!

I think that is an excellent way to feed and I pretty much do the same thing. If I am at the store and the meat is at a good mark down price, I buy it. LOL, we even ate old veal Osso Bucco bones that I originally bought for the dog. They were old but you stew Osso Bucco so they were very well cooked. Yummm, they were good!

I like to give my dog a good diet and to feed her a variety. She enjoys her meals and it is not a lot of work nor expense involved. And I feel I am doing a good job with her diet. She eats her raw food outside in the yard and thus I have no clean up.

Good post BabyReba!!!!

babyreba wrote:I feed both raw meat and cooked meat, raw veggies and cooked veggies, and also kibble. I feed my dogs as I see fit, and their diets vary, though the staple for each is different. Reba eats lots of raw meat and bones, as opposed to the puppy who eats more kibble and less raw meat and bones because he seems to have a sensitive system and kibble suits him well.

My dogs eat very well, and the things they get with the staple part of their diet changes frequently, depending on the day, depending on my mood that week, depending on whether I'm traveling, depending on what's on sale at the grocery store, depending on what I need to defrost from my freezer that week, depending on how much of what they've been getting lately and what I think they might need to supplement that . . .

Today they might have chicken livers and rice and bee pollen with green beans (Reba needs the extra fiber) and olive oil . . . tonight, they might have kibble. Tomorrow might be an all-kibble day, the next day might be boiled hamburger with their kibble or raw bones because I had to use up some chopped meat that was sitting in my fridge for a few days. . .

I guess what I'm getting at is that feeding dogs isn't really an exact science and just like with people, you can feed them variety and natural foods without having to worry that you're not getting them exact ratios of every single thing, as long as you feed them a balanced diet . . . no one necessarily has the "right" answer for what you feed your dog--I feed mine a combinations of things that they like (because I love to watch my dogs enjoy their food!), things that I know to be healthy for them, things my vet has recommended (she is a big fan of adding natural things to my dogs' diets, by the way), things I'm comfortable with, and things that others have recommended.

I've fed raw meat and bones to my puppy fosters, and I've also fed kibble to puppy fosters, and all my puppy fosters have thrived. My adult dogs have done great on Wellness, and others have also really done well eating raw . . . I can't say I totally favor kibble over raw or vice versa for a variety of reasons (the convenience factor of kibble being a big one for me!) . . .

I think that all the studies about salmonella in raw meat and the choking on bones and the vomitoxin in grains stuff . . . well you take chances in life with everything you do.

I could not walk my dogs in the park on the off chance that they might pick up a parasite. But I'm willing to take the chance so they can enjoy their lives and I can relax and enjoy them.

I've been giving mine some raw food, and still feeding them the DVP as well. The raw is more of a "snack", I wanted to see if it would make a difference in them at all. Though I've not been consistant, nor have I been making it a "meal plan" for them either. Just really testing the waters of RAW to see if they will have any differences in appearance. In just the few short weeks I've given them raw food here and there, I've noticed differences in their poop.

I feed Solomon half raw and half kibble. He gets a cup of nature's variety venison in me morning and a raw meal or fish at night. He loves both and flips his bowl around in his crate when he's finished and makes the cutest little grunty piggy noises! I've only had him two and a half weeks, but I already notice how much more beautiful his coat looks...and with a lot of exercise, his already muscular body is really defined! I feed Vicki all raw, but sometimes she gets NV if I forget to unthaw something...she looks great too!

concreterose wrote:I feed Solomon half raw and half kibble. He gets a cup of nature's variety venison in me morning and a raw meal or fish at night. He loves both and flips his bowl around in his crate when he's finished and makes the cutest little grunty piggy noises! I've only had him two and a half weeks, but I already notice how much more beautiful his coat looks...and with a lot of exercise, his already muscular body is really defined! I feed Vicki all raw, but sometimes she gets NV if I forget to unthaw something...she looks great too!

concreterose wrote:I feed Solomon half raw and half kibble. He gets a cup of nature's variety venison in me morning and a raw meal or fish at night. He loves both and flips his bowl around in his crate when he's finished and makes the cutest little grunty piggy noises! I've only had him two and a half weeks, but I already notice how much more beautiful his coat looks...and with a lot of exercise, his already muscular body is really defined! I feed Vicki all raw, but sometimes she gets NV if I forget to unthaw something...she looks great too!

Darn...the other topic was locked! Oh well, I'll add the post I was going to put there onto this thread:

If you can't afford a higher quality kibble,and don't want to feed raw meat, there are things you can do to give your dogs extra nutritional bonuses that don't cost an arm and a leg! My neighbor feeds purina beneful, but she has started adding a few things at my suggestion and is starting to notice a difference in her dogs. Some things you can add (and the dogs love the change in routine and yummy extras):
Jack mackeral (about $1 per can)
Eggs (cooked or boiled for about 2 minutes)
Canned salmon...it's always on sale somewhere! I can usually find it for about $1 a can. Canned salmon is the one fish that packs a powerful nutritional punch even though it's cooked!
Canned sardines (packed in water, not oil) less than $1 per tin...this is a highly nutritious addition, especially if you add an egg to it. Sardines are a very clean fish.
Chicken gizzards...the dogs LOVE them and they are cheap, cheap, cheap!
If you are averse to feeding raw, boil them quickly, it doesn't take long.
Chicken necks are one chicken part that can be boiled w/the bone and fed cooked (this is because chicken neck bones don't splinter, they get very soft and crumbly when you cook them).

I can't add a whole lot except my recent experience...My chihuahua is having some health issues..one of which WAS obesity. But he was having some liver dysfunction as well. The vet recommended some ridiculously high end crap food (SD prescription diet) and I talked to someone who gave me advice on exactly how to change hsi diet to raw. Which we did. It has been two months now and Keto has lost a great deal of weight (in some positions we see a wasteline again) his hair is thicker and softer, he is more active, he is visibly just healthier and happier. I don't add alot of crap..he gets an almost meat only diet with a couple of drops of salmon oil and a tiny bit of sea kelp. when you have it dangling right in front of you and its THAT drastic..my arguments are gone.

concreterose wrote:Darn...the other topic was locked! Oh well, I'll add the post I was going to put there onto this thread:

If you can't afford a higher quality kibble,and don't want to feed raw meat, there are things you can do to give your dogs extra nutritional bonuses that don't cost an arm and a leg! My neighbor feeds purina beneful, but she has started adding a few things at my suggestion and is starting to notice a difference in her dogs. Some things you can add (and the dogs love the change in routine and yummy extras):Jack mackeral (about $1 per can)Eggs (cooked or boiled for about 2 minutes)Canned salmon...it's always on sale somewhere! I can usually find it for about $1 a can. Canned salmon is the one fish that packs a powerful nutritional punch even though it's cooked!Canned sardines (packed in water, not oil) less than $1 per tin...this is a highly nutritious addition, especially if you add an egg to it. Sardines are a very clean fish.Chicken gizzards...the dogs LOVE them and they are cheap, cheap, cheap!If you are averse to feeding raw, boil them quickly, it doesn't take long.Chicken necks are one chicken part that can be boiled w/the bone and fed cooked (this is because chicken neck bones don't splinter, they get very soft and crumbly when you cook them).

Good post!

I do most of those things too. I found the jack mackeral pretty stinky so I tend to feed canned salmon instead since it's only 20 cents a can difference. She loves both.

And I often buy the chicken gizzards and hearts. When we have a roast chicken, we give her the neck, gizzards, liver, and we cut off the wings for her too. When I strip off the cooked chicken, I always set aside some of it for Fremiet, it goes into her kibble meal.

There are lots of good things you can add to any diet that don't cost a lot and the dogs love them. Mine loves her food, both the raw and the kibble!

concreterose wrote:Darn...the other topic was locked! Oh well, I'll add the post I was going to put there onto this thread:

If you can't afford a higher quality kibble,and don't want to feed raw meat, there are things you can do to give your dogs extra nutritional bonuses that don't cost an arm and a leg! My neighbor feeds purina beneful, but she has started adding a few things at my suggestion and is starting to notice a difference in her dogs. Some things you can add (and the dogs love the change in routine and yummy extras):Jack mackeral (about $1 per can)Eggs (cooked or boiled for about 2 minutes)Canned salmon...it's always on sale somewhere! I can usually find it for about $1 a can. Canned salmon is the one fish that packs a powerful nutritional punch even though it's cooked!Canned sardines (packed in water, not oil) less than $1 per tin...this is a highly nutritious addition, especially if you add an egg to it. Sardines are a very clean fish.Chicken gizzards...the dogs LOVE them and they are cheap, cheap, cheap!If you are averse to feeding raw, boil them quickly, it doesn't take long.Chicken necks are one chicken part that can be boiled w/the bone and fed cooked (this is because chicken neck bones don't splinter, they get very soft and crumbly when you cook them).

Thanks for this post. And thanks for leaving the drama of the other thread in the other thread.

My dogs get many treats with their kibble, including cooked meats, dried chicken jerky, and leftover veggies that the rabbit doesn't want. I also add fish oil and vitamin supplements.

The sardines and salmon I haven't tried though. But I will probably have to lock the cats away. They already try to eat the dogs' food, so I can only imagine their reaction to fish!

Because Kona came to us borderline emaciated, and was nursing puppies, we supplemented A TON. We gave canned dog food as well as canned salmon and usually leftover meat from whatever we'd eaten. She got roast beef and gravy some nights - she loved it! She got to where kibble alone wasn't good enough Our dogs often get cooked chicken we make up just for them - they get spoiled too and won't eat their food without it.

concreterose wrote:Darn...the other topic was locked! Oh well, I'll add the post I was going to put there onto this thread:

If you can't afford a higher quality kibble,and don't want to feed raw meat, there are things you can do to give your dogs extra nutritional bonuses that don't cost an arm and a leg! My neighbor feeds purina beneful, but she has started adding a few things at my suggestion and is starting to notice a difference in her dogs. Some things you can add (and the dogs love the change in routine and yummy extras):Jack mackeral (about $1 per can)Eggs (cooked or boiled for about 2 minutes)Canned salmon...it's always on sale somewhere! I can usually find it for about $1 a can. Canned salmon is the one fish that packs a powerful nutritional punch even though it's cooked!Canned sardines (packed in water, not oil) less than $1 per tin...this is a highly nutritious addition, especially if you add an egg to it. Sardines are a very clean fish.Chicken gizzards...the dogs LOVE them and they are cheap, cheap, cheap!If you are averse to feeding raw, boil them quickly, it doesn't take long.Chicken necks are one chicken part that can be boiled w/the bone and fed cooked (this is because chicken neck bones don't splinter, they get very soft and crumbly when you cook them).

Thanks for this post. My dogs get many treats with their kibble, including cooked meats, dried chicken jerky, and leftover veggies that the rabbit doesn't want. I also add fish oil and vitamin supplements.

The sardines and salmon I haven't tried though. But I will probably have to lock the cats away. They already try to eat the dogs' food, so I can only imagine their reaction to fish!

~Lindsay~

You are welcome, these are many of the things I did before I was comfortable making the total switch to raw (I still feed kibble at times, though).

LindsaySF wrote:And thanks for leaving the drama of the other thread in the other thread.

I have been thinking of switching Ozzy off the Pedigree that i have been feeding him his whole life beacuse i have been hearing lots of bad things about it. What are some good kinds of food for him? Any kibble brands that are better then others? He has a really sensitive stomach and when he stayed overnight at the vets he ate a different kind of food and threw up everywhere Any tips on preventing this if i do switch his food?

To be blunt... Pedigree is CRAP. I can go through the ingredients with you if you want.

Look for Timberwolf, Natures Variety, Canidae, Merrick, etc... Wellness is so-so. I'm really not crazy about it, but it is a million times better than pedigree.

Rule of thumb: If you can get it at a grocery store, dont feed it (unless it is raw meat of course ) High quality kibble is going to seem more expensive, but you actually feed much less (less fillers) and in the long run, you will save ALOT of money on vet bills. Raw is also VERY inexpensive.